Murray is positive despite swift bow

By IVAN SPECK

Last updated at 08:15 07 September 2006

The morning has never been Andy Murray's favourite time of day. A shame, then, that the teenager failed to extend his US Open fourth round match with Nikolay Davydenko past midday and into his preferred time zone.

When afternoon arrived at Flushing Meadows, Murray was already back in the locker room, packing up his tennis gear and preparing to vacate the premises.

Scorelines can often be misleading. In this instance, the 6-1, 5-7, 6-3, 6-0 victory margin for Davydenko reflected perfectly the Russian's command of his own performance at the beginning of each day's play.

On Tuesday, Davydenko emerged with a crispness to his play that Murray could not match. He repeated the feat yesterday and cruised into the quarter-finals.

Murray said: 'He played too good for me. I had my chance to get in front yesterday. I didn't take it. Guys who are as good as him and who have won as many matches as he has, when they get on top of you, they don't let you back into the match. If he plays like that he's got a good chance of winning the tournament.'

Do not read too much, however, into the fact that only six games were played yesterday after the match resumed with Davydenko two sets to one up.

Murray made those six games last 36 minutes, and each of them was a mini- war. But Davydenko won because he was more controlled.

The portents were ominous once Murray served three double faults in the opening game. When he delivered another to concede a 3-0 deficit, his task had become mountainous.

Twice he carved out a break point in Davydenko's next service game, but on each occasion he was a tad too passive as the Russian seventh seed moved him around and proved more patient. When Davydenko held for a 4-0 lead, the game was up.

The Russian was surprised by Murray's tactics, saying: 'I thought he would serve big and come to the net. But he played really slowly from the baseline. For me it was great.'

Murray's progression at Flushing Meadows is a microcosm of his blossoming career. He first played here in 2003 when, four months after his 16th birthday, he reached the boys' singles quarter-finals.

A year later, he returned to win that title, the only British player to do so. Twelve months ago, having exploded on to the main tour, the then 18-year-old qualified for the main draw and reached the second round. And this fortnight, under the guidance of new coach Brad Gilbert, he has out-performed his seeding of 17th to reach the last 16.

Murray said: 'I'm absolutely not disappointed at all. I'm not going to walk away from this tournament with any negative thoughts. I couldn't have asked for more. I had the best summer of my life and I'm playing the best tennis of my life. Anyone can play a bad couple of sets, but that's one thing that with age and experience you get better at. You become more consistent.

' My serve can get much better, my movement can get better, I can get fitter, I can improve my volleys and my slice. Mentally, I can get stronger. I can't wait to work on all those things with Brad and put them into my game.'